Acton Commentaryhttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary
Acton Commentary is published weekly by the Acton Institute.enDoes Pope Francis Really Believe That ‘Communists Think Like Christians’?http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/12/07/does-pope-francis-really-believe-communists-think
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by <a href="/about/staff/samuel-gregg">Samuel Gregg</a> </div>
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<p>Marxists, Marxist ideas and Marxist regimes have brought death and destruction to millions. Yet according to Pope Francis, &ldquo;if anything, the communists think like Christians.&rdquo; What&rsquo;s going on here?</p>
<p>Within the first year of his pontificate, Francis&rsquo;s strong criticisms of economic globalization and capitalism resulted in him being accused of having Marxist sympathies. Such charges, however, are demonstrably false.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/12/07/does-pope-francis-really-believe-communists-think" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 07 Dec 2016 18:08:35 +0000rober6thom6938 at http://www.acton.orgGlobal elites put Christianity in the crosshairshttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/11/30/global-elites-put-christianity-crosshairs
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by <a href="/about/people/robert-f-gorman">Robert F. Gorman</a> </div>
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<p>The term <em>global governance</em> refers to the political dimension of globalization. Here the question is to what degree governance will be centralized and controlled by international institutions in ways that threaten to diminish national and local governmental capacity. Global governance advocates tend to prefer both transnational regulation of markets and the creation of new human rights norms marked by increased centralization.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/11/30/global-elites-put-christianity-crosshairs" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 30 Nov 2016 18:23:40 +0000rober6thom6929 at http://www.acton.orgNaming, Blaming, and Lessons Learned from the 2016 Electionhttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/11/23/naming-blaming-lessons-learned-2016-election
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by <a href="/about/staff/jordan-ballor">Jordan Ballor</a> </div>
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<a href="/related-material/church%E2%80%99s-social-responsibility-reflections-evangel">The Church’s Social Responsibility: Reflections on Evangelicalism and Social Justice</a> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/11/23/naming-blaming-lessons-learned-2016-election" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 23 Nov 2016 16:50:56 +0000rober6thom6928 at http://www.acton.orgDakota Access Pipeline’s Real Moral Problem: Property Rights for Native Americanshttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/11/16/dakota-access-pipelines-real-moral-problem-proper
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by <a href="/about/people/rev-gregory-jensen">Rev. Gregory Jensen</a> </div>
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<p>Environmental protests that spring up around development projects on tribal lands point to an underlying systematic injustice. Native Americans often lack property rights to their traditional lands and waters. The protests now going on over the Dakota Access Pipeline are in part symptomatic of this gap.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/11/16/dakota-access-pipelines-real-moral-problem-proper" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 16 Nov 2016 17:57:58 +0000rober6thom6927 at http://www.acton.orgPolitics, Character, and Competitionhttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/11/09/politics-character-competition
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by <a href="/about/staff/jordan-ballor">Jordan Ballor</a> </div>
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<p>The renowned economist F. A. Hayek once observed that &ldquo;the curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.&rdquo; Many Americans and other observers are waking up today and perhaps, like me, they are thinking that politics has something to teach us about how little we know as well. In fact, economics has something to teach us about what we might get from a political process that is designed in a particular way.</p><div class="row">
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<a href="/related-material/get-your-hands-dirty-essays-christian-social-thoug">Get Your Hands Dirty: Essays on Christian Social Thought (and Action)</a> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/11/09/politics-character-competition" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 09 Nov 2016 17:54:58 +0000rober6thom6913 at http://www.acton.orgStewardship and Faithful Servicehttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/11/02/stewardship-faithful-service
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by <a href="/about/people/abraham-kuyper">Abraham Kuyper</a> </div>
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<p>If stewardship responsibility applies so strictly in regard to your body, it applies even more decidedly to your mind, to every talent that God has given you in your mind and in your life. &ldquo;For all things are yours,&rdquo; the apostle says [1 Cor 3:21]. There is nothing that the subjects of King Jesus may not take up into their lives. Our King does not take his subjects out of the world. He has no use for the Anabaptist avoidance of society. The only thing to be avoided is what is sinful and unclean, but created things as such are not to be avoided.</p><div class="row">
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<a href="/related-material/pro-rege-living-under-christs-kingship-vol-1">Pro Rege: Living under Christ&#039;s Kingship, vol. 1</a> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/11/02/stewardship-faithful-service" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 02 Nov 2016 15:51:31 +0000rober6thom6912 at http://www.acton.orgConservatism, Free Markets, and America’s Post-Obama Economyhttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/10/26/conservatism-free-markets-america%E2%80%99s-post-obama-eco
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by <a href="/about/staff/samuel-gregg">Samuel Gregg</a> </div>
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<p>Regardless of who becomes America&rsquo;s forty-fifth president in January 2017, the new chief executive and Congress will face considerable social, foreign policy, and economic challenges. That&rsquo;s true of any president and legislature. The economic problems, however, will especially be formidable: not, we hope, because of something akin to the financial crisis that confronted President Obama upon assuming office, but because of long-term difficulties for which minor policy tweaks won&rsquo;t be a sufficient response.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/10/26/conservatism-free-markets-america%E2%80%99s-post-obama-eco" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 26 Oct 2016 14:32:45 +0000rober6thom6908 at http://www.acton.orgA ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ for family and civil society http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/10/19/hillbilly-elegy-family-civil-society
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by <a href="/about/people/ray-nothstine">Ray Nothstine</a> </div>
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<p>A sad irony is that, since the rise of the federal government&rsquo;s aggressive war on poverty launched in the 1960s, many of the underlying causes of economic distress have been neglected or ignored. While government achieved some progress towards meeting basic material needs, it has no answers to the deeper dilemma of dependency and hopelessness faced by many Americans.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/10/19/hillbilly-elegy-family-civil-society" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 19 Oct 2016 15:17:25 +0000rober6thom6907 at http://www.acton.orgHelp People, Not Banks – Reflections on the 2016 Nobel Prize in Economicshttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/10/12/help-people-not-banks-%E2%80%93-reflections-2016-nobel-pri
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by <a href="/about/people/victor-v-claar">Victor V. Claar</a> </div>
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<p>The 2016 Nobel Prize in economics was jointly awarded to Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstr&ouml;m on Monday for their shared contributions to our understanding of contract theory. Taken together the work of Hart and Holmstr&ouml;m has allowed all of us to understand more clearly what a &ldquo;good&rdquo; contract might look like &ndash; even when both parties face an uncertain future.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/10/12/help-people-not-banks-%E2%80%93-reflections-2016-nobel-pri" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 12 Oct 2016 14:47:16 +0000admin6903 at http://www.acton.orgThe Power of Moneyhttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/10/05/power-money
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by <a href="/about/people/abraham-kuyper">Abraham Kuyper</a> </div>
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<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Money can entice one to all kinds of sin; in fact, there is almost no sin imaginable to which it does not entice. However, this is merely the consequence of the core corruption money brings as soon as it becomes for someone what his God alone can and may be for him. That struggle also goes on for a long time in the heart. Our human heart needs a point of support on which to depend, rest, lean, and rely and from which it derives the peace, rest, and calm of life. At first, things fluctuate.</span></p><div class="row">
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<a href="/related-material/pro-rege-living-under-christs-kingship-vol-1">Pro Rege: Living under Christ&#039;s Kingship, vol. 1</a> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/10/05/power-money" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 05 Oct 2016 14:54:57 +0000rober6thom6901 at http://www.acton.orgUtopias Denied: Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon at 75http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/09/28/utopias-denied-arthur-koestler%E2%80%99s-darkness-noon-75
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by <a href="/about/people/bruce-edward-walker">Bruce Edward Walker</a> </div>
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<p>Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, Public Broadcasting aired a television series titled &ldquo;<a href="http://www.steveallen.com/television_pioneer/meeting_of_minds.htm">Meeting of the Minds</a>,&rdquo; created, produced, written and starring the multi-talented polymath Steve Allen.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/09/28/utopias-denied-arthur-koestler%E2%80%99s-darkness-noon-75" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 28 Sep 2016 14:05:19 +0000rober6thom6896 at http://www.acton.orgCalling climate change a sin won't help the planet -- or the poor.http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/09/21/calling-climate-change-sin-wont-help-planet-or-poo
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by <a href="/about/staff/dylan-pahman">Dylan Pahman</a> </div>
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<p>In his recent <a href="http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/09/01/pope_francis_message_on_world_day_of_prayer_for_creation/1255035" target="_blank">message </a>on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Francis, citing Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, called climate change a sin, saying,</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/09/21/calling-climate-change-sin-wont-help-planet-or-poo" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 21 Sep 2016 15:14:25 +0000rober6thom6893 at http://www.acton.orgPiety and Politics: The Church’s Social Responsibilityhttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/09/14/piety-politics-church%E2%80%99s-social-responsibility
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by <a href="/about/staff/jordan-ballor">Jordan Ballor</a> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.clpress.com/publications/churchs-social-responsibility" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="/sites/v4.acton.org/files/book_cover.jpg" style="float: right; margin-left: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;" /></a></p><div class="row">
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<a href="/related-material/church%E2%80%99s-social-responsibility-reflections-evangel">The Church’s Social Responsibility: Reflections on Evangelicalism and Social Justice</a> </div>
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<p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/09/14/piety-politics-church%E2%80%99s-social-responsibility" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 14 Sep 2016 14:48:59 +0000rober6thom6885 at http://www.acton.orgJustice, Torah and the Minimum Wagehttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/09/07/justice-torah-minimum-wage
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by <a href="/about/people/curt-biren">Curt Biren</a> </div>
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<p>The issue of a higher minimum wage -- sometimes referred to as a living wage or a just wage -- is <a href="https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/08/28/dc-restaurants-lose-1400-jobs-amid-minimum-wage-increase/">back in the news</a>, with a number of local and state governments enacting minimum wage ordinances.&nbsp; In the current election season, it continues to be a contentious issue.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/09/07/justice-torah-minimum-wage" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 07 Sep 2016 14:45:03 +0000rober6thom6881 at http://www.acton.orgThe Global Poor Desperately Need a Thing You Can’t Taste or Touch: Property Rightshttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/08/31/global-poor-desperately-need-thing-you-can%E2%80%99t-taste
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by <a href="/about/staff/michael-matheson-miller">Michael Matheson Miller</a> </div>
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<p>A recent <a href="https://stream.org/rios-poor-watch-olympic-opening-rooftops-slum/" target="_blank">AP news story</a> laments that Rio&rsquo;s poor would be watching the summer Olympics from their rooftops, since they have no ticket in to a celebration reserved for the rich and glamorous. The article is a peek into the hopes and dreams of the hardworking slum dwellers living in the shadow of Rio&rsquo;s Olympic stadium, but the story misses something important.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/08/31/global-poor-desperately-need-thing-you-can%E2%80%99t-taste" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 31 Aug 2016 14:11:17 +0000rober6thom6879 at http://www.acton.orgA ‘House of Cards’ In Nicaraguahttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/08/24/house-cards%E2%80%99-nicaragua
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by <a href="/about/staff/paul-j-bonicelli-phd">Paul J. Bonicelli, PhD</a> </div>
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<p>When Nicaragua is in the news, it is usually bad news, and so it is once again as it descends into another dynastic dictatorship.&nbsp; The man currently building the latest family-run state is the incumbent president Daniel Ortega, although apparently the irony is lost on him since he led a socialist revolution 40 years ago to overthrow the previous dynasty.&nbsp; The history of Nicaragua is a cycle that runs from dictatorship to democracy and back to dictatorship again; a hope and change story that is now ending very badly.&nbsp; There are heroes of liberal democracy, Nicaraguans from all</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/08/24/house-cards%E2%80%99-nicaragua" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 24 Aug 2016 16:16:22 +0000rober6thom6872 at http://www.acton.orgMillennials should read Solzhenitsynhttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/08/17/millennials-should-read-solzhenitsyn
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by <a href="/about/people/rev-johannes-jacobse">Rev. Johannes Jacobse</a> </div>
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<p>The appeal of Bernie Sanders&rsquo; socialism is a puzzle to many, but it shouldn&#39;t be, not if we understand how most people think about economics.&nbsp; Sanders&#39; appeal rises when economics is understood mechanistically, subject to impersonal forces and nefarious individuals. As a result, an economy can only be directed by the macro decisions of large and powerful entities like governments. Shallow moral appeals arise to justify socialist policies where success is not measured by the objective results of the policy, but by the moral good they ostensibly foster.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/08/17/millennials-should-read-solzhenitsyn" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 17 Aug 2016 14:27:27 +0000rober6thom6867 at http://www.acton.orgTechnology Seen, and Unseenhttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/08/10/technology-seen-unseen
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by <a href="/about/staff/dylan-pahman">Dylan Pahman</a> </div>
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<p>I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords. Well, not really &ndash; mainly because we don&rsquo;t actually face the threat of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skynet_(Terminator)">Skynet</a> anytime soon. And thankfully <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Luddism">neo-Luddites</a> &ndash; those who argue for rejecting modern technology &ndash; are relatively few these days.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/08/10/technology-seen-unseen" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 10 Aug 2016 17:09:41 +0000rober6thom6850 at http://www.acton.orgRediscovering the beautifulhttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/08/03/rediscovering-beautiful
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by <a href="/about/people/caroline-roberts">Caroline Roberts</a> </div>
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<p>An emphasis on the need for practical use is beneficial when applied to goods in the market, so as to meet the ever changing demands of the consumer. But the value of some goods cannot be reduced to a selling price. One such good is beauty. Although the market has a role to play in the creation of beautiful things, this essential good can only be fully realized through the work of talented people devoted to the vocation of art.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/08/03/rediscovering-beautiful" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 03 Aug 2016 14:16:51 +0000rober6thom6847 at http://www.acton.orgRe-Branding Capitalism for Millennials http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/07/27/re-branding-capitalism-millennials
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by <a href="/about/people/allison-gilbert">Allison Gilbert</a> </div>
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<p>Over the last decade, millennials have been characterized as filled with a sense of entitlement, lazy, and disillusioned. In the past year they have acquired another label: socialist.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/07/27/re-branding-capitalism-millennials" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 27 Jul 2016 14:51:38 +0000rober6thom6845 at http://www.acton.orgWhy Religious Liberty Cannot Prosper without Economic Libertyhttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/07/20/why-religious-liberty-cannot-prosper-without-econo
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by <a href="/about/people/jay-w-richards">Jay W. Richards</a> </div>
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<p>In recent years, religious freedom in the United States has been treated by its defenders as a special form of freedom distinct from, say, political or economic freedom. This is not a viable long-term strategy for protecting religious freedom. Both economic and religious freedom tend to exist together in the same societies; they are both based on the same principles; they tend to reinforce each other; and over the long haul, they arguably stand or fall together. As a result, when Christians surrender economic freedom, they unwittingly surrender their religious freedom as well.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/07/20/why-religious-liberty-cannot-prosper-without-econo" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 20 Jul 2016 15:16:46 +0000rober6thom6844 at http://www.acton.orgNobel Laureates Plead with Greenpeace to Drop Opposition to GMOshttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/07/12/nobel-laureates-plead-greenpeace-drop-opposition
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by <a href="/about/people/allison-gilbert">Allison Gilbert</a> </div>
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<p>A group of more than 100 Nobel Laureates have <a href="http://supportprecisionagriculture.org/nobel-laureate-gmo-letter_rjr.html">publicly declared</a> Greenpeace&rsquo;s anti-GMO campaign a crime against humanity. These men and women say the science is clear -- the world needs GMOs, and objecting to the production of genetically modified foods both denies scientific evidence and exacerbates the suffering of the world&rsquo;s poor.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/07/12/nobel-laureates-plead-greenpeace-drop-opposition" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Tue, 12 Jul 2016 14:17:19 +0000rober6thom6838 at http://www.acton.orgThe Forgotten Story of the German Economic ‘Miracle’http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/07/06/forgotten-story-german-economic-miracle%E2%80%99
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by <a href="/about/staff/samuel-gregg">Samuel Gregg</a> </div>
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<p>Given many Americans&rsquo; apparent enthusiasm for socialism today, it&rsquo;s hard not to conclude that we live in an age in which millions know little about history or aren&rsquo;t inclined to learn from it.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/07/06/forgotten-story-german-economic-miracle%E2%80%99" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 06 Jul 2016 15:56:41 +0000rober6thom6837 at http://www.acton.orgEconomics not Great at Orthodox Councilhttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/06/29/economics-not-great-orthodox-council
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by <a href="/about/staff/dylan-pahman">Dylan Pahman</a> </div>
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<p>We Orthodox who are especially nerdy followed the remnants of what was planned as a &ldquo;Great and Holy,&rdquo; &ldquo;Pan-Orthodox&rdquo; council of the Orthodox Churches, which concluded Sunday in Crete. The sad reality, however, is that for various reasons Antioch, Russia, Bulgaria, and Georgia decided not to attend. Antioch, especially, had <a href="http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2016/06/the-great-orthodox-council-antioch-is-different">unique and legitimate grievances</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/06/29/economics-not-great-orthodox-council" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 29 Jun 2016 14:10:29 +0000rober6thom6835 at http://www.acton.orgGlobal Capitalism versus Christianity? A Response to David Bentley Harthttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/06/22/global-capitalism-versus-christianity-response-dav
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by <a href="/about/staff/samuel-gregg">Samuel Gregg</a> </div>
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<p>In a June 2016 <em>First Things</em> article, &quot;<a href="http://www.firstthings.com/article/2016/06/mammon-ascendant#login">Mammon Ascendant: Why global capitalism is inimical to Christianity</a>,&quot; the Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart rearticulates a theme he previously <a href="http://www.firstthings.com/article/2015/12/habetis-papam">addressed</a> in the same publication: that there is a basic incompatibility between what he alternatively calls &ldquo;late modern capitalism&rdquo; or &ldquo;global capitalism&rdquo; and Christianity.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/06/22/global-capitalism-versus-christianity-response-dav" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 22 Jun 2016 16:47:02 +0000rober6thom6829 at http://www.acton.orgA Russian businessman discovers the law of lovehttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/06/15/russian-businessman-discovers-law-love
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by <a href="/about/people/rev-gregory-jensen">Rev. Gregory Jensen</a> </div>
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<p>When I first read the description of Fr. Alexander Torik&rsquo;s novel <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Flavian-English-translation-Nathan-Williams/dp/5905462089"><em>Flavian</em></a>, I was skeptical. Recently translated from Russian, it is the story of &ldquo;an unexpected turning point in the life of Aleksei, a quite ordinary city dweller.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/06/15/russian-businessman-discovers-law-love" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 15 Jun 2016 18:00:40 +0000rober6thom6827 at http://www.acton.orgSocial Democracy: How Bernie Sanders’ Dream Turns into a Nightmarehttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/06/08/social-democracy-how-bernie-sanders%E2%80%99-dream-turns-n
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by <a href="/about/staff/samuel-gregg">Samuel Gregg</a> </div>
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<p>When some Americans describe themselves as &ldquo;socialists,&rdquo; not all of them have in mind the command economies that laid waste to the former USSR and Eastern Europe, or even the disaster <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/05/venezuela-is-falling-apart/481755/" target="_blank">presently</a> unfolding in Venezuela.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/06/08/social-democracy-how-bernie-sanders%E2%80%99-dream-turns-n" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 08 Jun 2016 12:32:32 +0000rober6thom6823 at http://www.acton.orgSorry Bernie: Scandinavia Isn’t Socialist. You Must Be Thinking of Francehttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/06/01/sorry-bernie-scandinavia-isn%E2%80%99t-socialist-you-must
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by <a href="/about/staff/dylan-pahman">Dylan Pahman</a> </div>
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<p>With an unabashed demagogue as the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, it is easy to overlook the problems of the one who has mounted a serious challenge to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/06/01/sorry-bernie-scandinavia-isn%E2%80%99t-socialist-you-must" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 01 Jun 2016 14:03:46 +0000rober6thom6817 at http://www.acton.orgWendell Berry: Great Poet, Cranky Luddite on Ag Techhttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/05/25/wendell-berry-great-poet-cranky-luddite-ag-tech
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by <a href="/about/people/bruce-edward-walker">Bruce Edward Walker</a> </div>
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<p>Any occasion to herald the sheer awesomeness of Wendell Berry as one of the preeminent poets and novelists of the past half-century should be seized. This is why I write glowingly of Berry but must curb my enthusiasm about <em>The Seer: A Portrait of Wendell Berry</em>, a new <a href="http://www.theseerfilm.com/">documentary</a> making the rounds of U.S. film festivals.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/05/25/wendell-berry-great-poet-cranky-luddite-ag-tech" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 25 May 2016 15:51:32 +0000rober6thom6810 at http://www.acton.orgConstitutional Conservatism: Its Meaning and Its Futurehttp://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/05/18/constitutional-conservatism-its-meaning-its-future
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by <a href="/about/staff/samuel-gregg">Samuel Gregg</a> </div>
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<p>Whatever the results of the 2016 presidential election, the process has raised hard questions about conservatism&rsquo;s future in America. Whether it is social conservatism, fiscal conservatism, or national-security conservatism, important setbacks for these causes have taken place across the board in the past nine years. Today the United States is less socially cohesive, less economically free, and less internationally secure than in 2007.</p><p><a href="http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2016/05/18/constitutional-conservatism-its-meaning-its-future" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Wed, 18 May 2016 14:57:07 +0000rober6thom6799 at http://www.acton.org